This Week’s Top Resources for Preparing Your Heart for Christmas

Stores donned Christmas decorations in early November. Radio stations began playing Christmas carols before Thanksgiving.

It’s no wonder I’m feeling a bit behind … and it’s not even December.

Fortunately, I’m not behind. Advent begins Sunday.

So there’s plenty of time to set the hustle and bustle aside and focus on what’s important … the coming of our Lord.

When I was young my grandmother emphasized that Christmas was Jesus’ birthday.

We wished Him happy birthday Christmas morning and enjoyed a birthday cake we baked in His honor. It was her way of making sure I knew what we were celebrating.

My grandmother’s no longer here, but I’ll continue our tradition with a birthday cake for our Christmas day celebration.

Just in time for the start of Advent, this week’s Genuflect resources provide an opportunity for us all to refocus. To determine what we’re going to do to ensure we don’t get caught up in the parties, shopping and eating. To prepare our hearts for the coming of Jesus Christ … on the anniversary of his birth as well as his second coming.

Keep Believing-

Katy Barrilleaux
Editor, Genuflect

Resources

Like Lent, Advent is a preparatory season. It has significance because it is a season of looking forward and waiting for something greater; both for the annual celebration of the event of Christ’s birth, and for the time when Christ will come again. Learn more about the origin and history of Advent.

Beginning the Church’s liturgical year, Advent is the season encompassing the four Sundays (and weekdays) leading up to the celebration of Christmas. This online Advent calendar can help you fully enter in to the season with daily activity and prayer suggestions to prepare you spiritually for the birth of Jesus Christ.

Advent wreaths are a Christian tradition with roots in 16th-century Germany. They are seen both in churches and in homes and are an excellent way to prepare for the celebration of Christmas. Here is a step-by-step introduction to the practice and how to implement it in your home.

There’s no other season of the year that carries with it more opportunity for stress than the four weeks leading up to Christmas. The pressure to decorate, bake, shop, wrap gifts, entertain and maintain a cheerful holiday spirit can leave you feeling totally overwhelmed. It doesn’t have to be that way. Here are 30 tips on how to take the stress out of Advent and Christmas.

Perhaps you too have had the experience of preparing for Christmas, only to realize that amongst the candy-making, the letter-writing, the present-purchasing, the tree-trimming, and more, you never got around to spiritual preparation, even though you really meant to this year. If you would like to add a more reflective or penitential note to your family’s Advent observance, check out these seven ideas to get you started.

It’s hard to be a parent in season of Advent, especially when celebrating in the American tradition. This year Catholic artist and father of three Matt Maher is releasing a children’s book alongside his new album, The Advent of Christmas, with the goal of helping parents take a moment to remind their children what the season is all about.

During the season of Advent, the Church asks us to look at ourselves in a way that isn’t about vanity, in a way that’s truthful, honest, and can change us for the better. In his new book from Ave Maria Press, entitled “Daily Devotions for Advent,” Deacon Greg Kandra has written a series of reflections to help us spiritually prepare for Christmas.

From the beach town of New Smyrna, Florida, just a stone’s throw away from Daytona Beach, Rich Varano never imagined his unique talent of sculpting sand would take him to the heart of Christianity. Varano is the artistic director of the “Sand Nativity,” a massive 52-foot-wide sculpture made of sand that will be the centerpiece of the Vatican’s annual Nativity scene on display in St. Peter’s Square.

Evangelize

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The Week’s Top Resources for Living Your Catholic Faith in aPost-Christian World

Genuflect is a free weekly email newsletter with a mission of strengthening your relationship with God. You’ll get the week’s top, hand-picked resources for learning, living, and sharing your Catholic Faith … without the preaching and lecturing.